


Pearls

by Pawprinter



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: (is that a pun?), Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Texting, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wisdom Teeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28140873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pawprinter/pseuds/Pawprinter
Summary: Luke wasn't supposed to have his phone after surgery, yet there he was — spilling his guts to his best friend over text.
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 115
Kudos: 573





	Pearls

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LilShitWayne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilShitWayne/gifts).



> This fic is written to celebrate me hitting 1.5k followers over on Tumblr! Shout out to lilshitwayne for this request: "tooth rotting fluff for Juke? Everyone's Alive AU and Luke has to get his wisdom teeth removed, so he's very grumpy and then afterwards very high and Extra in love with Ms. Molina." I changed the prompt the slightest bit, but I hope you enjoy.
> 
> Warning for coarse language. Also, the general premise of this fic has to do with Luke not having a filter because he's wayyyyyy out of it after surgery, and there's brief mention to medication and surgery (but no details!).
> 
> One final note! The typos the in texts are intentional. I tried to make sure most of the texts are still legible, but if you are unable to read any texts, that's totally okay. Julie's inner monologue should have decent summaries of everything going on!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Julie knew she shouldn't have been nervous, but she couldn’t help herself. She kept glancing at her phone every few seconds, watching as time crept by and her notifications remain empty.

This surgery was common. Almost everyone she knew had their wisdom teeth removed, and yet—

She couldn’t help but worry because he wasn’t just _everyone._

_It was Luke._

No matter how many times her dad tried to tell her that no news was good news, it felt as though she couldn’t take a breath until she was told that everything was okay.

_Waiting was agony._

She glanced at her phone again — a whole minute after the last time she looked at it — and let out a frustrated sigh.

_Nothing._

On instinct, she pulled open her text conversation with _Skywalker_ _✨🌝_ and scrolled, just to give herself something to do.

**Julie:**

good luck!!!!!!! youre going to do amazing!!!! 

it’ll be over before you know it

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

I want you to know

If I die 

I’m coming back as a ghost

And I’m haunting you

That’s a promise

**Julie:**

luke

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

I’m serious

I’d convince Alex and Reggie to join me too

We could form a little ghost band or something 

**Julie:**

hilarious

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Just letting you know so you’re prepared  
when your stuff starts getting moved around  
and there’s messages written for you in mirrors

**Julie:**

youre so dramatic 

**Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

I am NOT dramatic, Molina

I am perfectly-matic. No drama about it

**Julie:**

bitch im a mother

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

No drama

Exactly

You get it

**Julie:**

youre such a dork

i cant believe my best friend is a dork 

**Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

I don’t know what to tell you

You knew what you were signing up for

**Julie:**

theres only 10 minutes until your appointment

how do you still have your phone?

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Ugh fine I get it I’m going

Say something nice at my funeral 

**Julie:**

lucas

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Tell everyone I went out fighting

**Julie:**

theyre going to know you had surgery for your  
wisdom teeth

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

HOW ARE THEY GOING TO KNOW?

Btw don’t text cause I’m giving my phone to  
my mom and she’ll definitely start chatting  
if she sees you texting

**Julie:**

but i like your mom

tell emily i said hi

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

AND I’m napping after I’m out of here

So

Say your final goodbyes

Tell me you’ll miss me

**Julie:**

itll be nice having some peace and quiet for a few hours

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Ouch

Words hurt

**Julie:**

jokes

ill miss you :((((((

oh what will i do with myself while youre gone :((((

i already miss you :(

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

I hate you

I really do

**Julie:**

okay but i actually will kinda miss you

be prepared for 100 memes waiting for you

im sending them ALL while youre gone

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Laughing with stitches doesn’t seem like a great idea

But

Okay cool

Can’t wait

They’re calling my name

See you on the other side Molina

Julie chewed on her lip and debated penning a quick message for him to read as soon as he was awake and had his phone back in his hands.

What could she say though?

Everything she _wanted_ to say was out of the question because, even if he wasn’t just waking up from surgery, telling her best friend that she was in love with him was an overall very bad idea.

That was exactly why she hadn’t told him yet, and the reason why she was probably never going to tell him.

_It was a very bad idea._

She didn’t want to screw up their friendship because _it was the truth._ He was one of her best friends. Flynn, Luke, Reggie, Alex — they were her _family_ and she couldn’t bear the thought of something messing that up.

**Julie:**

Hey! Hope you’re doing okay! Thinking of you.

She pulled a face at that. Why did it sound like she was texting her aunt? Ew.

She deleted and tried again.

**Julie:**

HOW WAS TEETH HARVESTING?

Hm. No. Too aggressive.

**Julie:**

surgery? complete

teeth? harvested

hotel? trivago 

She stared at the text for a beat longer. That was subtle enough, right? He’d know she was thinking about him without being weird. 

Right? 

It wasn’t weird, was it?

When the three little dots showed up on the left side of her screen, Julie panicked and dropped her phone.

_Oh no._

Luke was awake and texting her — which was a good thing, but—

Now he was going to _know_ she was planning on sending him a message, and _he was going to think she was just waiting with their conversation open the whole time,_ and that was so clearly _not_ the case.

Absolutely not.

She was not worried about him, or thinking about him, or—

**Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

I loved bish

Julie let out a choked sound.

She watched from above as numerous texts poured in.

**Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Loved*

Loved*

Loved*

Shirt

Shirt*

SHIT**

Loved**

LOVED**

I lives bish

Ygh

I mesn

I lovw you

Bit 

Npt my point

She reached for her phone, her heart pounding. It was unhealthy that these typos were making her feel like _this —_ as if her heart had fallen to her feet and her throat had tightened.

_Get it together._

**Julie:**

omg hi

how are you

how was it?

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

I dint koce tou

Gaga qho daid love

Nor me

**Julie:**

i have no clue what youre saying

how was the surgery??

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Unh

M tord

Weee

**Julie:**

…

dots

actual dots

im sorry but im laughing so hard rn

are you still out of it from the meds?

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

No

In awaje

Awale

Wjske

Ugh

Awakw

**Julie:**

luke…

wheres your mom?

wheres emily?

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

No

No mom

Im fone

So fine

**Julie:**

i really doubt that

im guessing the surgery went well since youre texting me

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

M

**Julie:**

is that a no?

yes?

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Yed

**Julie:**

can you turn autocorrect on?

its hard to read what youre typing with it off haha

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

It os om

In

On

**Julie:**

wow

okay

you know its bad when autocorrect cant even help you

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

:)

Julie chewed her lip in thought. What would a responsible friend do in this situation? Probably tell him to get off his phone and get to sleep, right? _Right?_

(Even though that was the exact opposite of what _she_ wanted — all she wanted to do was talk to him and make sure he was alright.)

But she was a friend. A _good_ friend. A _responsible_ friend.

She quickly typed a few messages.

**Julie:**

i think im going to let you go

okay?

you seem out of it and you probably need to rest

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

NO

No :(

Makinf me dad

Saf

S A D

Dint go julie

I moss you

Dont go

I’m find

See

Fine

❤️

:)

Circling back to unhealthy…

It was absolutely unhealthy that getting a _heart emoji_ from Luke made her feel like she was flying and falling all at once.

She was so into him that it was embarrassing.

Still, she tried to remain cool and calm.

**Julie:**

wow

i don’t think youve ever sent me a heart before

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Why :(

❤️

❤️

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️  
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️  
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️  
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

:)

Her fingers hesitated on the keys.

Was he expecting her to type a heart back? 

That didn’t feel right.

It didn’t feel right, not when it meant two totally different things to them.

(—not when he held her heart from the moment they stayed up for two days straight to write a full album for a contest that they ended up losing—)

(—not when her heart would race every _single time_ his nose was inches away from hers as they sang into the same mic on stage—)

(—not when she couldn’t imagine a future without him in her life—)

She changed the subject.

**Julie:**

listen so i got your homework from harrison’s class. 

i can swing by tomorrow with it?

dont stress tho because its not important

just make sure youre resting

im worried about you

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Nooooooop :(

Domt be worried

M goof

Good

Haha

Goof

Funny worfd

**Julie:**

youre going to look back at these texts and  
laugh when youre more awake

wheres your mom?

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

:(

Srop truing to get rid of me

Enily is busy

I wanne talk to you

:(

**Julie:**

no im not trying to get rid of you!

i want to talk to you too 🥺

youre fresh out of surgery though

and you told me your mom was going to keep your  
phone on lockdown until you were up from a nap

which you should definitely be having rn

a nap

you need to nap

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

:((((((((

Jules

Her heart leapt into her throat.

Her fingers hesitated on the keys.

Her palms grew clammy.

Luke had only called her Jules a handful of times in their lives and, each time, it made her breath catch in her throat.

This time was no exception.

 _She hated him._ She loved him so much that she hated him.

**Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Jules

Jules

:)

Jules

Gahahaga u know why I call you Jules?

**Julie:**

because its a nickname?

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Cause it reminds me of jewel

And your a jewel

So special

So pretty

God you’re so pretty

She had to set her phone down for a second.

Julie needed to _get it together_ because he absolutely did not mean it in the way she wanted him to mean it. They were _friends._ She had to get her spiralling thoughts _under control_ before they ruined everything.

**Julie:**

you know what

i kinda like you like this

ill excuse the typos for the compliments 

**Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

It’s thw truth

You wanna know another truth?

It’s a secret though

**Julie:**

should you be telling me secrets right now? 

im concerned about your judgement…

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

My judgement is find

But ues

Yes

Secret

Secret tim

Time

lmao who is Tim?

Anyway

So many secrets

In just a book of secrets

Im**

lol

**Julie:**

A WIDE OPEN book maybe

you have no secrets

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Oh yeah?

Secret 1

Reggie snores

**Julie:**

thats not really a secret

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Secret 2

Alex likes pink

And he doesn’t like cheesecake

Weird

She laughed under her breath. Her heart tugged with affection because _those were her boys._

**Julie:**

do you know the definition of secret?

 **Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Secret 3

Reggie ❤️ country

Secret 4

Cheese belongs in ever thing

On*

Secret 5

Reggie tired to fix hid amp on the rain

Julie began typing a message back, unable to hide her grin. She couldn’t tell if Luke seriously considered any of these facts secrets — she sure hoped not, considering everyone in their hometown knew about Reggie and his amp.

**Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Secret 5

I’m on love with my best friend

Her fingers froze.

Julie stared at her phone for a long moment.

She blinked slowly.

She couldn’t breathe.

_Huh?_

**Julie:**

hilarious

considering im your best friend

No!

No, absolutely not, she was _not_ going to send this because it was toeing too close to reality. Of course he was joking and _she needed to joke too, or else—_

It was too late to rethink that message because her finger automatically pressed sent. 

No!!!!!!!!!

_WHAT WAS SHE DOING?_

Julie’s whole body turned to ice as the little “delivered” message turned to “read.”

Oh god.

_Oh god._

_He read it._

Maybe it wasn’t as bad as she thought it was.

Maybe he was going to think she was joking around too.

Maybe—

**Skywalker** **✨🌝** **:**

Exactly

I’m in love with you

God I’m so freaking in love with you

Julie stared at her phone unblinking. Her heart pressed against her ribs. Her chest was so tight that it was impossible to breathe. Her fingers hovered several inches above the glass screen, unable to move despite her _needing_ to type something back.

 _Haha,_ she wanted to type, _you’re so funny._

_Wow, you have a great sense of humor!_

_Mulaney’s got nothing on you, Patterson._

She needed to type something — anything — because _he wasn’t in love with her._ He wasn’t. He was still recovering from surgery and _clearly_ out of it and trying to be funny and—

Her phone clattered to her bed when Luke’s face popped up on her screen. It was her contact photo for him — a photo they took last year on the bus during a school trip to a ski lodge. He looked ridiculously tired in it, with his chin resting on her shoulder and a pathetic pout on his lips and his orange beanie pulled to the tip of his nose.

It still made her chest warm and her heart skip a few beats.

 _Except for right now —_ her heart didn’t just _skip_ a few beats — it had stopped completely in her chest.

He was calling her.

Why was he calling her?

_Whyyyyy????_

She swore under her breath and scrambled to grab her phone.

Julie didn’t get a chance to say hi before Luke was talking.

(But, really, how _awkward_ was it going to be if she had that chance. Like, ah yes, “hi, Luke, I just read your horrible joke about being in love with me, how’s your Tuesday?”)

“Juuuuuuuuuules,” Luke mumbled into the phone, his voice raspy and his words muffled. “Jules, don’ look at your phoooooooone. I’m _sorryyyyyyyyy._ I just— _owwwwww.”_

Julie’s fingers ached from how tightly she was gripping her phone case. While it was hard to understand Luke through what she imagined was all the gauze, she got the message.

_Don’t look at her phone._

“I don’t know what ‘m doin,” he groaned. “‘M so confused. _Is this a dream?_ IthinkImdreamingandI— _ow.”_

“Luke,” Julie cut off quickly. “Hey. Hi.” She cringed — yep, it was as awkward as she imagined it was going to be. “Where’s your mom? I don’t think you should be talking right out of surgery.”

“‘M okay. I’m _fine._ I— _ugh._ This _gauze —_ I’m gonna— ugh.” There was a shuffling on the other end of the phone. In the distance, she could hear him muttering under his breath.

“Luke? Luke.”

“Hm?”

“Go to bed.”

“Noooooooooooo waaaaaaaait.” He was back on the phone again, the speaking _way_ too close to his mouth. She could hear every breath he took. “Don read your texts. Kay? Just… delete.” A pause, then, “You… didn see ‘em, huh?”

Julie’s heart pounded.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

 _Yes,_ she wanted to say, _she saw it. She saw it and she was confused and—_

“Jules.” He sniffed, as if he was _crying._ “Jules? You there?”

There was a waver to his voice that made everything else in the world fall to pieces.

“I’m still here,” she told him. “Hey — are you okay? You sound upset.”

There was a long pause and — _yes,_ she could hear it clearer now. Luke was on the other end of the phone, _sobbing._

Something rose up in her — the fierce need to protect and comfort her friends. Suddenly, the text he sent earlier — the one where he jokingly confessed his love for her — it didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that he could say these words so easily — words that had plagued her for _months._ It didn’t matter that anything beyond friendship between them was something he could joke about when it was something she had _wished for_ for so long.

It didn’t matter because _Luke was crying and—_

“Hey,” she said, her voice softer now. “What’s going on? Are you in pain?”

 _“I just love you so much.”_ Julie froze. Luke continued to speak, his words still muffled. “I needed to tell you. I don’t— I don’ know why I didn’t tell you earlier. I love you. I love you. I love you. _I really freaking love you, Julie._ My Jules.”

She squeezed her eyes shut because, even though every cell in her being wanted to believe him…

_She couldn’t._

Not when she loved him more than words could ever say.

Not when she had been in love with him for _months_ and too scared to say it.

Not when she’d been desperately hoping for her feelings to just _go away_ because she wasn’t going to risk their friendship — a friendship that brought back so much life and happiness and light into her world.

She couldn’t believe him, not when he was fresh out of surgery, not when there was too much on the line.

“Luke,” she said, unsure of exactly what to say. “We should talk about this later. You don’t know what you’re saying.”

It was the only thing that made sense — he didn’t know what he was saying, he didn’t _mean_ the words that he was speaking.

_It was the only explanation because—_

Because any other reason _just didn’t make sense._

“No,” he insisted. “I know what I’m saying. I’m fully aware of what I’m saying. I’ve been wanting to tell you for months. I’m in love with you.”

“Luke…”

“I just— I wanna say this. All of this. If that’s okay? Is now a good time?”

Her chest tightened with fondness. Of course Luke would be checking with her when he was the one that just had surgery.

“Yeah. I—” She swallowed thickly. “I want to hear it.”

“Okay,” he responded, and she could hear the tremble in his voice. “I’m not just saying this to say it. _I mean it._ I’ve been in love with you for… _so long._ Uhh. You know _Fifth?”_ It was a song they wrote together for their year-end assignment last year. Hearing Luke sing about someone he loved made her heart break in an entirely new way — of course it did when she loved him so much — but she’d been happy for him too. She was happy that he was happy and in love and— “It was about _you,_ Julie. _It was about you.”_

Her mind was still racing, trying to catch up with what was happening right in front of her. She was sitting in her bed doing school work and _Luke Patterson —_ one of her best friends and bandmate — was telling her that he loved her.

She didn’t know what to say. Julie wasn’t even sure she could _speak_ if she ever found the right words — she could barely _breathe —_ could barely _think._

“I’m in love with the fire in your soul, and your talent for music, and the way you will only wear your bear slippers if you’re feeling homesick. _I’m in love with you._ I loved you from the moment we sang together on stage for the first time, and I loved you when you accidentally fell on my guitar and it broke, and I loved you when we stayed up until five in the morning just talking and— I love you.” Julie still hadn’t figured out how to breathe but _wow_ it felt as though her soul had been ripped from her bones. “I don’t know why I didn’t tell you before. I don’t know why I’m telling you now— wait. Yeah. I do. _A nice nurse asked me to talk about something that made me happy as I was getting prepped and all I could think about was you._ I want to tell everyone about you and be with you and. _I just really love you.”_

There was a few seconds of _nothingness_ as Julie tried to catch her breath.

Luke was on the other end of the call, breathing hard into the phone too, but for an entirely different reason than Julie. It felt as if the floor had been ripped out from under her feet _in the best possible way,_ while he had just made a declaration so poetic that it didn’t even matter that he was talking through a mouth full of gauze.

“Luke…”

But, before she could say anything, he was crying again.

“Hey, what’s going on? What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing’s _wrong._ I just am so in love with you and I don’t know what your favourite Disney channel movie is and I’m so _sad!_ I love you so much please don’t hate me because I don’t know if you like High School Musical or— Wait! Mom— no. I’m—” 

There was a shuffle on the other end of the phone and— 

“LUKE WHO DID YOU CALL? Hello?”

Hearing Luke’s mom’s voice on the other end of the line was enough to jolt Julie out of whatever state of shock she was in.

“Emily!” she said, her voice high with forced cheer. “Hi!”

“Oh, Julie, oh my goodness, I’m glad it’s you.” Julie could hear Luke talking in the background, but his voice was growing fainter by the second. She pretended that her heart didn’t twinge painfully at that. “I hope he didn’t say anything he wasn’t supposed to!” Emily let out a laugh. “He told me to keep his phone away from him while he was recovering but—”

“Nope. Nope. You’re good. He’s good. He, uh… He didn’t say anything he wasn’t supposed to.” Julie swallowed thickly and pinched her lips together. Her whole body felt tight and _she desperately wanted to talk to Luke, but—_

“Good, okay. I’m going to get him to sleep for a bit. He’s insisting he’s fine but he won’t realize just how out of it he is until later. That’s how it usually works for me, anyway.”

Knowing Luke’s mom, she was probably about to launch into a full conversation, but Julie couldn’t handle that — not right now.

“Yeah, let him rest. That’s a good idea.”

There was a pause. “Are you okay, Julie? You sound… I don’t know. Not yourself.”

“I’m fine,” she said, her voice shaking. Her eyes squeezed shut. “Just… tell Luke to call me later, okay? Please?”

It was after Emily hung up that everything hit Julie.

_Luke was in love with her._

She flopped back into her bed.

_Holy shit._

* * *

It was one in the morning when Luke FaceTimed her.

She reached for her phone on her nightstand and answered it without turning on a light. Luke’s face appeared on screen — his cheeks swollen from surgery, eyes red-rimmed from what looked like hours of crying, and ice packs pressed to his jaw. 

He didn’t give her a chance to speak. As soon as the call connected him, he was rambling.

“Oh god,” he groaned. His words were more mumbled than they were earlier. Whatever medication they gave him at the hospital must’ve worn off by now. He winced when he tried to clear his throat. “Oh god. Please tell me I dreamed that I called you. Please tell me I didn’t actually call you. Julie.”

The corners of her lips turned up. Something softened inside of her from just _seeing him._

“You did,” she confirmed.

He groaned and covered his face with his hands, clearly embarrassed. 

“Oh _god._ I’m so sorry. Just— let’s forget I ever said anything because my mom was right; I had no idea what I was talking about and no filter and—”

“Luke? I love you too.” Julie watched as Luke grew rigid with her admission. Her heart was thundering in her chest, quieting the world around her into silence. All that mattered was her and Luke. “I’m _in_ love with you too.”

He pulled his hands away. The camera was tight on his expression, with his face taking up the whole screen. Luke looked so confused, and so hopeful, and— 

“... huh?”

Julie laughed. “You heard me.” A horrible thought occurred to her. Her grip tightened on her phone and she tried to push away the fears rising in her. “That is if, uh… If you were being serious earlier, when you said you—”

“I love you. _God, I love you.”_ Luke was sitting upright in his bed now, the ice pack long forgotten. For the first time that day, she got a good look at him. His sheets left red imprints across the right side of his face and he looked _tired._ She could see it in his eyes — behind the tear stains. He was exhausted. “I was— I _am_ serious, Molina. _I’m so in love with you._ I had to be _out of it_ and fresh out of surgery just to have the guts to say it to you because _I was worried_ but it’s the truth.”

Julie let out a shaking laugh. “I was worried too. But… I’m glad you said something.” She ached to be with him in that moment — to hold his hand, and kiss his cheek, and sit together doing nothing for hours. She wanted to be beside him even though he was in pain — especially since he was in pain. She just wanted to _comfort_ him. “I bought you some strawberry sherbet. I can stop by tomorrow and—”

“Yes,” he said quickly. He grimaced with pain and brought the ice pack back up to his jaw. “Please. I wanna see you. _I miss you.”_

“You saw me yesterday.”

“I still miss you.” He pouted. “My face hurts. Show me some sympathy. I just want ice cream and you, Jules.”

_He knew exactly what to say to make her melt._

“I’ll be there.” They stared at each other for a beat. She wished she was with him right then, but— “You should go and get some rest. It looks like you’re in pain.”

“It’s not so bad. Worth it to talk to you.” The grin that followed was cheesy, but only lasted for a few moments. Luke let out a sharp gasp of pain and lowered himself back down to his pillows. “I hate my face.”

“Lucky for you, I _love_ your face.” 

_Yikes,_ Julie didn’t know where these horrible flirting skills were coming from, but she was glad they were around if it meant Luke would keep smiling at her like _this._ His smile, while not as full as it should’ve been, was enough to melt the remaining nerves and reservations lingering in her chest.

 _This is Luke,_ she reminded herself. _Luke — the same boy that ate a worm at recess, and the same boy that nearly broke his nose dancing to Taylor Swift, and the same boy that stayed up with her until sunrise to paint each other’s nails._

He was her best friend and _she loved him._

And he loved her.

That was more than enough reasons to smile.

“You know,” Luke said, his voice groggy, “you never answered my question earlier.”

“Hm? Which one? There was… _a lot_ going on.”

“It’s important, okay? I love you, but I don't know your favourite Disney movie. It’s _High School Musical,_ right? You're a fan of the Wildcats? _Lemonade Mouth_ is also up there, but—”

Her cheeks hurt from how wide she was smiling. Her whole body was abuzz with adrenaline and joy and—

She couldn’t remember a time where she felt happier.

As Luke went on about Disney Channel Original Movies — with his voice growing groggier and more mumbled with each passing second — Julie couldn’t help but smile.

 _She loved this nerd so much._ And she couldn’t wait to tell him exactly that every single day.

**Author's Note:**

> Do I believe Julie, Flynn, Luke, Reggie, and Alex would all be best friends if they were all alive? Yes. Absolutely. Willie is also most definitely Alex's boyfriend and a welcome part of the group. Nobody can take this away from me.
> 
> Disclaimer: I made a few references to TikTok sounds, memes, John Mulaney, and Star Wars in this fic because !!!! how could I not!!
> 
> As always, comments and kudos are appreciated!
> 
> Paw  
> Find me on [Tumblr!](https://pawprinterfanfic.tumblr.com/)  
> 


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